Entries Tagged 'Art and Culture' ↓

“Welcome to the war zone, otherwise known as a school day. For thirty-something Brit mum Jane (Bess Meyer, alternating with Mina Badie), just making breakfast for her preteen daughters Jess (Phoebe James) and Betty (Abigail Revasch) is like a dawn raid in Fallujah. In “Mammals,” Amelia Bullmore’s sharply observed and thoroughly compelling dramedy at the Lost Studio, it can be hard to tell the difference between love and mere survival.

When husband Kev (Adrian Neil, alternating with James Donovan) arrives home from a business trip, he appears to be the cavalry but instead drops a bomb: He’s fallen in love with a co-worker. Jane is shocked, then furious, but moments later their weekend guests — Kev’s best mate, Phil (David Corbett), and a leggy blond named Lorna (Stephanie Ittleson) show up early. They’ve just had a row as well. Over what? “We only have one fight,” sighs Phil. “It just comes in many different guises.”

“Mammals” is itself one subject in many guises: Connection — how much to have, with whom to have it. Everyday traffic in other people can be so, well, messy. Not to mention disappointing. “The Love Room is a con,” purrs Lorna, confiding in Jane that her interest in Phil is on the wane as she recalls an old flame’s anorexia-inspiring passion. Even steady Kev admits monogamy lacks intensity: “You might amaze each other twice a year,” he complains to Phil, in one the play’s most delicious scenes.

The darkly comic take on intimacy is hardly new territory — recent memorable contributions include “August: Osage County” and “Closer” — but “Mammals” isn’t making any claims to originality. It’s Bullmore’s keen wit and directness that grabs your attention and holds it with the force of a suspense thriller. Toward the end of the first act, Jane announces she too has a confession, and it’s hard to tell whether Kev or the audience is more anxious to hear it. The play somehow implicates all of us, caught between animal impulse and human vulnerability. (Did I mention this is an ideal date night?)

Director John Pleshette draws strong performances from his leads, particularly Meyer as Jane. Brittle with anger, physically dwarfed by her own offspring, she pushes the play to its jagged edges. Corbett’s jaunty Phil, all chuff and charm, delivers the evening’s best lines with relish. The children are played by adult actresses, a highly theatrical choice but stylistically at odds with Tiffany Williams’ realistic kitchen and den set, strewn with suburban debris.

“Forget other people,” Lorna advises Phil, in one of the play’s moments of bracing candor. For better or for worse, you’re not likely to forget Bullmore’s savage, acutely human “Mammals.””

— Charlotte Stoudt for the Los Angeles Times

Mammals

Lost Studio Theatre,

130 S. La Brea Avenue

Hollywood, California

8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays. Ends March 8.

$25. (800) 595-4849. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

The city emptied out early on Tuesday night for the Thanksgiving holiday, but Lincoln Center’s newly renamed David H. Koch Theater was filled to the rafters with ballet lovers. “I’ve been crazy for it my whole life!” said Valentino Garavani at the tip-off to the New York City Ballet’s Winter 2008-2009 season. “And when Peter Martins does it in New York, I know it’s going to be sensational.” Joining him for a one-time-only performance—which began with a somber set reflecting the current economic climate and ended on a jazzy upbeat note with the music of Wynton Marsalis and Ray Charles—were Alicia Keys, Candace Bushnell, Rachel Roy, and Peter Som “I would sit and watch rehearsals if I could!” enthused SArah Jessica Parker, who danced with the American Ballet Theatre in her early days. “This is the best escape I can think of,” added Blythe Danner. Speaking of getting away, Derek Lam told us, “I’m leaving for Turks and Caicos tomorrow.” So, will there be turkey, sweet potatoes, the works? “No. We’re thinking alcohol, the beach, and sleeping. A lot.” — Katie Hintz

New York City Ballet’s annual Opening Night Benefit featured an evening of ballets set to American music by such composers as Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Charles Ives, Wynton Marsalis, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Ray Charles. The theater is being named in honor of Mr. Koch who recently made a $100 million gift to support the capital campaign for the theater, previously known as the New York State Theater, which is home to both New York City Ballet and New York City Opera. The theater, which opened its doors in 1964, is currently undergoing a major renovation, with the initial phase due for completion in the fall of 2009.

Photos Compliments of : Style.Com

Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs
1913–2008

October 26, 2008–March 1, 2009 | Hammer Building

Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913–2008 is the first major exhibition to bring together the magazine’s historic archive of rare vintage prints with its contemporary photographs. The exhibition explores the ways in which photography and celebrity have interacted and changed, with portraits from the magazine’s early period (1913–1936) displayed in conjunction with works from the contemporary Vanity Fair (1983–present). The Los Angeles presentation, which is sponsored by Burberry, will be the only U.S. stop on the exhibition’s international tour. Photographers to be represented include Cecil Beaton, Harry Benson, Julian Broad, Imogen Cunningham, Annie Leibovitz, Man Ray, Mary Ellen Mark, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Edward Steichen, Mario Testino, and Bruce Weber.

Curators: Terence Pepper, curator of photographs, National Portrait Gallery, and David Friend, editor of creative development, Vanity Fair. Curator at LACMA: Charlotte Cotton, photography.

A collaboration between Vanity Fair and the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Sponsored by Vanity Fair is a registered trademark of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc.

Edward Steichen, A Much Screened Lady—Gloria Swanson, 1924,© Condé Nast Publications Inc./Courtesy George Eastman House.